In the wake of removing the ‘Crudia zeylanica’ tree which is allegedly endemic to Sri Lanka through a Cabinet of Ministers decision, the Opposition parties urged that legal action should be taken against the Cabinet for violating the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance by granting approval to cutting down the said tree.

Speaking to the media yesterday (17), Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian attorney Udaya Gammanpila said that the Cabinet has committed a collective offence by granting approval to cut down the said tree, which is an offence under Section 43 of the said Ordinance. 

Gammanpila therefore, stressed that now the Department of Police should take legal actions against the Cabinet since they have committed an offence. He also noted that, being the main Executive body of the country, the Cabinet has to set an example for the public by protecting these laws but that now, they have done the complete opposite. He said that no one is above the law in the country, even the Cabinet.

Recently, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister of Transport and Highways Dr. Bandula Gunawardana explained that the decision to remove the ‘Crudia zeylanica’ tree, located in the area of Daraluwa in Gampaha, was a policy decision made by the Government. Gunawardana explained that the removal of the tree in question was approved by the Cabinet, after he, in his capacity as the Minister of Transport, made a request in this regard. He further explained that the uprooting of the endemic tree in order to continue the construction of the Central Expressway was not, in fact, as harmful as certain parties portrayed it to be. “I called for an inspection in this regard, and a report was subsequently compiled. There are 15 such trees which are over 40 years old, and there are 25 trees with a height between 12 - 15 feet,” he said, adding that they have also taken necessary measures to plant another 200 ‘Crudia zeylanica’ trees on behalf of the one that they intend on uprooting.

However, as a result of the uproar created by several parties, the matter was temporarily halted. Many parties including the Gampaha District Forest Officer Dewani Jayathilaka, environmentalists, and the Buddhist clergy had come forward to protect the tree, which is listed in the Red Data Book as an endangered species.